Defending Rodgers

[hondo in seattle]

How do you guys think we'll defend the Jets on Monday night?

 

Our defense is different in a few ways from last year.  The most obvious and meaningful are a new DC calling plays and a new MLB.  But there are some other interesting differences, too, like having Rapp on the roster and creating intriguing options (Big Nickel, anyone?).   And Leonard Floyd spicing up the pass rush (though, disappointingly, Von will be out).  

 

I don't follow the Jets closely but I do know what Rodgers brings.  Besides his arm talent, he reads defenses and moves around the pocket well.   Teams only blitzed him 21% of the time last year (7th lowest rate in the league) because historically he's been effective against the blitz.

 

But Rodgers is in a new city, with a new OC, surrounded by new players, protected by a subpar OL, and using a playbook that he can't possibly have mastered yet as thoroughly as he did the one in Green Bay.    Should we put Rodgers under siege with a non-Bills-like and unexpected heavy blitz package?   At his age, and at this point in his Jets career, can Rodgers respond as effectively to the blitz as he has in the past?  

 

If you don't like the blitz idea, what would you do?  

[Rc2catch]

I’m much more worried about the Jets D line vs the Bills O line.

I expect largely the same defense we’ve seen from Buffalo. Big cushions on the outside to keep receivers in front. Occasional blitzes with taron and Milano and probably Rousseau or another D line dropping into coverage or something on some of those blitzes. I’d happily welcome some new changes but I’m not sure how much we’ll see week one. 
 

Small edit for the OP on the last paragraph.. He is actually using the same playbook from Green Bay. That’s partly why Hackett and Lazard and Cobb and all them guys joined, to help teach the offense. 

Edited September 3, 2023 by Rc2catch

[Success]

I'm normally a huge fan of his.  He has such a unique skillset - and is capable of greatness in any moment & in any game.

 

I'm no D expert - but I feel like we'll be able to get pressure on him without blitzing, given the Jets' line.  I think the D in this game would be better served by playing physical w/ the receivers and trying to disrupt things enough to give our D-line time to get to him.  He's going to make some big plays, but the key is not allowing him to get comfortable and start to pick us apart.  

 

I'm truly excited to see the defense under McDermott.  

 

[Augie]

I thought this was going to be about his smugness…..

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

I’m expecting they are going to attack the mlb and cb2 with the run and the pass. 
 

such a talented roster. Hopefully Hackett is still a mess like he was in Denver 

[LABILLBACKER]

9 minutes ago, Over 29 years of fanhood said:

I’m expecting they are going to attack the mlb and cb2 with the run and the pass. 
 

such a talented roster. Hopefully Hackett is still a mess like he was in Denver 

Aaron is basically the OC anyway so Hackett is just there for the ride.

[JerseyBills]

That blitz rate should go up and think McD will bring DBs all night

 

According to sports radio here , the OL is awful. GB has had a top 5 10 ol every year,  we have to dominate the L.O.S

[Beck Water]

33 minutes ago, hondo in seattle said:

How do you guys think we'll defend the Jets on Monday night?

 

Our defense is different in a few ways from last year.  The most obvious and meaningful are a new DC calling plays and a new MLB.  But there are some other interesting differences, too, like having Rapp on the roster and creating intriguing options (Big Nickel, anyone?).   And Leonard Floyd spicing up the pass rush (though, disappointingly, Von will be out).  

 

I don't follow the Jets closely but I do know what Rodgers brings.  Besides his arm talent, he reads defenses and moves around the pocket well.   Teams only blitzed him 21% of the time last year (7th lowest rate in the league) because historically he's been effective against the blitz.

 

But Rodgers is in a new city, with a new OC, surrounded by new players, protected by a subpar OL, and using a playbook that he can't possibly have mastered yet as thoroughly as he did the one in Green Bay.    Should we put Rodgers under siege with a non-Bills-like and unexpected heavy blitz package?   At his age, and at this point in his Jets career, can Rodgers respond as effectively to the blitz as he has in the past?  

 

If you don't like the blitz idea, what would you do?  

 

I wouldn't assume that the playbook isn't essentially the one he had with Hackett in Green Bay.  Why wouldn't it be?

 

If I'm correct, the issue isn't Rodgers mastering the playbook, the issue is "have WR not named Cobb and Lazard mastered the playbook?  Has Dalvin Cook mastered the playbook?  Is the OL all on the same page with the protections?"

 

I'm no DC, but that's what I'd probe into trying to exploit.  Rodgers was very effective against the blitz in GB because he knew what his answers were, and his receivers knew what they were supposed to do to be answers.  If the Bills D can throw a monkey wrench into those works, should be interesting.

[Alphadawg7]

36 minutes ago, hondo in seattle said:

How do you guys think we'll defend the Jets on Monday night?

 

Our defense is different in a few ways from last year.  The most obvious and meaningful are a new DC calling plays and a new MLB.  But there are some other interesting differences, too, like having Rapp on the roster and creating intriguing options (Big Nickel, anyone?).   And Leonard Floyd spicing up the pass rush (though, disappointingly, Von will be out).  

 

I don't follow the Jets closely but I do know what Rodgers brings.  Besides his arm talent, he reads defenses and moves around the pocket well.   Teams only blitzed him 21% of the time last year (7th lowest rate in the league) because historically he's been effective against the blitz.

 

But Rodgers is in a new city, with a new OC, surrounded by new players, protected by a subpar OL, and using a playbook that he can't possibly have mastered yet as thoroughly as he did the one in Green Bay.    Should we put Rodgers under siege with a non-Bills-like and unexpected heavy blitz package?   At his age, and at this point in his Jets career, can Rodgers respond as effectively to the blitz as he has in the past?  

 

If you don't like the blitz idea, what would you do?  

 

I think McD is going to have confidence in our secondary and look to be aggressive upfront to disrupt Rodgers as much as he can given he doesn't have much experience with these guys and the Jets OL is their weakest spot on the team.  

 

So I expect McD to dial up pressure and I also think we are going to see Groot more than people think on the inside this week to use his length to disrupt the passing lanes.  I also think we are going to see Rapp a lot more than people think this week helping out at the MIKE as a 3rd safety essentially in obvious passing downs.  

[NewEra]

Per the season, I think if we can keep the oppositions run in check, our pass rush will find a way to win.  Just stay healthy 

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

I think they are going to basically run the GB offense. Run heavy; play action; some nice back shoulders. 
 

The reality is that Rodgers, when he as a line and run game and a few weapons, is not going to be easy to defend. He is going to march them up and down. We will need to try to hold up in the redzone.

[Bangarang]

Jets have trash for receivers outside of Wilson. Double him all night and let Rodgers try and beat you with Lazard and Cobb. 

[akcash]

1 hour ago, Rc2catch said:

I’m much more worried about the Jets D line vs the Bills O line.

I expect largely the same defense we’ve seen from Buffalo. Big cushions on the outside to keep receivers in front. Occasional blitzes with taron and Milano and probably Rousseau or another D line dropping into coverage or something on some of those blitzes. I’d happily welcome some new changes but I’m not sure how much we’ll see week one. 
 

Small edit for the OP on the last paragraph.. He is actually using the same playbook from Green Bay. That’s partly why Hackett and Lazard and Cobb and all them guys joined, to help teach the offense. 

Is Carl Lawson playing? 

[NickelCity]

It's all about our offense vs their defense imo. My concern is them blowing up our OLine and putting us in hero ball mode. That can't happen if we want to win.

[Dr.Sack]

#1 account for all dump off passes. IE: the RBs and chipping TEs. Don’t give away easy yards. Make Rodgers earn it over the top on long developing routes. Punish him for hanging on to the ball over 2.5 seconds.
 

#2 overload to stop the run. 

 

#3 make Rodgers win over the top. Rodgers gets fidgety the longer the ball is in his hands. 
 

#4 hit Rodgers on/after every deep pass if within the allowed time on/after release.
 

#5 Allen & Company must play a clean game. No short fields. Limit turnovers. Think a 4 quarter game.
 

#6 ST must control return game on punts and kickoffs. No short fields. 

[Punching Bag]

Best solution to Rodgers is knock him out of game with legitimate hit.

 

Bills need to bring Arthur Moats in for a tackling ex-Packer QB lesson.

[John from Riverside]

Hit him
Hard

[BringMetheHeadofLeonLett]

Live by the blitz, die by the blitz.  
 

For Rodgers, I like the idea.  He's a real QB, not a forward hand-off artist like TB, so a blitz can hit home.  He'll totally burn us if we blitz, but I think it's no worse odds to win the game, and it"ll be a week 1 reminder that Father Time is calling.   It's gonna be a long season, Mister Rodgers. 

[Sammy Watkins' Rib]

3 hours ago, Rc2catch said:

I’m much more worried about the Jets D line vs the Bills O line.

That is also what the Jets should be concerned about with regards to their own o-line. We should be defending Rodgers first and foremost by bringing as much pressure as we can. 
 

Hopefully we get there with four. But if we bring 5 or more consistently the pressure should be there every time. 

2 hours ago, Miyagi-Do Karate said:

The reality is that Rodgers, when he as a line and run game and a few weapons, is not going to be easy to defend.

He should be playing with the worst line of his career hopefully.

[Richard Noggin]

Bringing pressure early and often could play right into the Jets' hands, as I expect a ton of quick hitting run/pass mix that gets the ball out fast and attacks the field horizontally more than vertically. Attacking the Bills is about taking what the off-coverage gives you (outs, slants, "now" routes and screens galore) while establishing the run and run-action game. 

 

Best way to defend that? Good question. 

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

I think the best defense is going to be a good offense. Allen & co need to prove they can hang numbers on the Jets which they didn’t do at all last year. I think 24 points will get it done. This is the best time to steal a win while Rodgers and his receivers are still getting acclimated. I think the 2nd matchup is going to be a lot tougher. 

[BringMetheHeadofLeonLett]

So blitz on offense, THEN blitz on defense, unless they get the ball first.  
 

I'm in favor,

 

Concerned Citizen

[GunnerBill]

Don't blitz Aaron. Every time we have one of these threads on almost any QB the answer from fans is "BLITZ."

 

Play our defense. Be disciplined in our rush lanes, control our gaps. Don't let the Jets establish a ground game, put it all on Aaron, shade coverage towards Garrett Wilson and let him throw 5 yards to Randall Cobb in the slot as much as he likes. 

[Matt_In_NH]

Like any QB....you have to speed him up...that is pretty much always the answer.   If you let him throw it to Wilson unmolested he will torch us even if he is covered.

[TheyCallMeAndy]

2 ways: Rogers doesn’t want to get hit anymore, but the NFL will undoubtedly protect the 40 year old QB. He got super angry when a DL shoved him in the preseason, I’d do that a lot. Constant, physical presence (obvs get the sack if you can) to keep him annoyed.

 

Id also be very physical with their WRs, outmatch them. If they start with drops you’ll see Rogers unravel even more. 
 

Get in his head, you should be able to beat him. 

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

2 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

Don't blitz Aaron. Every time we have one of these threads on almost any QB the answer from fans is "BLITZ."

 

Play our defense. Be disciplined in our rush lanes, control our gaps. Don't let the Jets establish a ground game, put it all on Aaron, shade coverage towards Garrett Wilson and let him throw 5 yards to Randall Cobb in the slot as much as he likes. 

This is likely paraphrasing McDermott’s office whiteboard.

[WhitewalkerInPhilly]

I've been noodling on this a while and what I've settled on what we did against Miami in our second match up: run a lot of nickel/big nickel/dime looks. Dare them to run the ball. Rodgers might have his Green Bay receiver cronies from last year but none scare me as much as the Hill/Waddle combo does. We have a recovered S group and a platoon on CBs. With an O-line worse than Miami I think we get enough stops to get the job done 

[Rich Stadium Original]

If the Jets O line is as bad as everyone says, looking at Roger's limited performance in the preseason, and the Bills perceived weakness at MLB, I would expect the Jets to test the Bills run defense, along with a very short passing game..screens, slants and shallow crossers,, all with barely a 2 step drop to nullify a pass rush.

If I were the Bills, I would play a press man coverage (Elam??), with a sprinkle of one of those Milano looping blitzes up the middle ( a la Tua) just to remind him how quickly he wants to get rid of the ball.

[Since1981]

“Blitz” not a way to win but a fan fav one word analysis 
 

Can bills O be productive against an excellent DL/CB. Can Bills O take the short stuff 12 pack and do it patient/routinely. 
 

Bills will Double Wilson, block sides, and make them take 8 plays to score just 3

 

 

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

Far be it from me to point this out, but Teddy Bruschi saved puppies from a burning car.  Aaron Rodgers uses hallucinatory substances.  Now which one do you think I will defend? 🤨

*
😈😇

[uticaclub]

Get a lead and make them play from behind. Thats the only way this team is built to win

[Bubba Gump]

Well, McD likes the blitz and will use it much more than Frazier did. And Rodgers, I don't think will be on his A game yet. I think he'll need a few weeks of live action to settle in. I'm also not sure how much Hackett will have to do with the playcalling. He's terrible and I could easily see Rodgers not getting along with him. Gonna be an interesting season for Gang Green. 

[All_Pro_Bills]

I'm thinking it's the Jets that need to worry about how to defend the Bills offense with upgrades including Kincaid, a better and faster WR group, some physical upgrades in the RB group along with some offensive line upgrades.  Add in a healed up right elbow for Allen.  For all the worries about the Jets offense the Bills are 2 1/2 point favorites on the road to open the season on Monday night.   At home that would be what?  5 1/2? 

[Buffalo Junction]

9 hours ago, hondo in seattle said:

 

I don't follow the Jets closely but I do know what Rodgers brings.  Besides his arm talent, he reads defenses and moves around the pocket well.   Teams only blitzed him 21% of the time last year (7th lowest rate in the league) because historically he's been effective against the blitz.

 

But Rodgers is in a new city, with a new OC, surrounded by new players, protected by a subpar OL, and using a playbook that he can't possibly have mastered yet as thoroughly as he did the one in Green Bay.    Should we put Rodgers under siege with a non-Bills-like and unexpected heavy blitz package?   At his age, and at this point in his Jets career, can Rodgers respond as effectively to the blitz as he has in the past?  

 

If you don't like the blitz idea, what would you do?  

That offense will probably look very similar (at least to fans) to what Rodgers and Hackett ran under LaFleur. A lot of WCO concepts mixed with zone runs. Motion to spread out the defense and isolate receiving matchups on the wide side of the formation or create numerical advantages in the run game. 
 

Blitzing Rodgers can work, but it’s usually only effective if a lineman drops into coverage. Rodgers generally won’t be fooled, but the goal is to confuse a lineman or two and get a free rusher, so rarely blitzing but enough to make the line worry about it is key. Same thing goes for coverages… confuse the younger WRs into running routes incorrectly. Rodgers generally will not throw inside to guys he doesn’t trust. That said, Hyde and Poyer may be able to get one over on Rodgers here and there. 

[I'm Spartacus]

Rattle his cage, chip at him, and sack if we can. Rodgers seems to loose his cool when pressured or his plays fall apart.

[without a drought]

He's not that weird.

 

He's not too old.

 

That's as far as I'll go.

[Livinginthepast]

The only way the Bills D can stop him is ....... Ayahuasca!!  Yes ! Thats right, the entire D needs to do an Ayahuasca ritual before next week to gain a deeper insight and capture Rodger's spirit animal! Can we hire a shaman advisor before next Monday as well?

[hondo in seattle]

8 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

Don't blitz Aaron. Every time we have one of these threads on almost any QB the answer from fans is "BLITZ."

 

Play our defense. Be disciplined in our rush lanes, control our gaps. Don't let the Jets establish a ground game, put it all on Aaron, shade coverage towards Garrett Wilson and let him throw 5 yards to Randall Cobb in the slot as much as he likes. 

 

That may be true but, GB, I'm not that guy.  Blitzing is not part of my mantra and never has been.  Making a blanket statement like that, which doesn't apply to me, is not an effective refutation.  

 

I'm going off mantra here because these are unique circumstances.  Nate and Aaron spent the last few months building a prototype.  It's new, inevitably still incomplete, and built with a hodge-podge of materials including some that are sub-spec (the OL).  The best way to destroy something like that is to put it under extreme stress.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 3, 2023 by hondo in seattle

[BillsShredder83]

11 hours ago, hondo in seattle said:

How do you guys think we'll defend the Jets on Monday night?

 

Our defense is different in a few ways from last year.  The most obvious and meaningful are a new DC calling plays and a new MLB.  But there are some other interesting differences, too, like having Rapp on the roster and creating intriguing options (Big Nickel, anyone?).   And Leonard Floyd spicing up the pass rush (though, disappointingly, Von will be out).  

 

I don't follow the Jets closely but I do know what Rodgers brings.  Besides his arm talent, he reads defenses and moves around the pocket well.   Teams only blitzed him 21% of the time last year (7th lowest rate in the league) because historically he's been effective against the blitz.

 

But Rodgers is in a new city, with a new OC, surrounded by new players, protected by a subpar OL, and using a playbook that he can't possibly have mastered yet as thoroughly as he did the one in Green Bay.    Should we put Rodgers under siege with a non-Bills-like and unexpected heavy blitz package?   At his age, and at this point in his Jets career, can Rodgers respond as effectively to the blitz as he has in the past?  

 

If you don't like the blitz idea, what would you do?  

New system, line, plays, team. Bust out your best blitz packages, see if its rattling him or if it looks like were playing into his hand... be ready to switch to simulated blitzes... but whats needed is to bring pressure with 4, the only gameplan that works 100% of the time, that line sucks, no excuse to not have a great day for that DL. SHOW ME THE FN BABY!

[MikePJ76]

I am not sure yet, but wink made a case for pressuring him in that third preseason game.  He didn't seem to handle it well.  If not for a questionable pass interference they would have punted twice with their starters vs the giants backups because of the pressure wink brought.

 

Aaron Rodgers has never lost a week 1 Home opener...he has however lost five on the road including the last two season openers.

 

If buffalo does not commit PI and makes them drive the ball the length of the field I think  they are going to really frustrate rodgers who is going to want to throw it all over the building monday night.